Shepparton Youth Club United and Numurkah play out yet another Haisman Shield thriller

Just like that classic encounter to open the year, Sam Nash’s side elected to put the first score on the board.

This time, though, there was far more production out of the top order despite losing opener Ben Greenwood and clean-up hitter Seb Menzhausen for single-digit tallies.

You would have thought it was 40°C watching Jake Callow bat, the way he was dispatching Numurkah’s bowlers to the rope with aplomb and little need to scurry between the wickets with a batting display which produced fireworks that would rival the nearby Shepparton Show.

Riley Dawson was able to snag an LBW call to finally extinguish Callow’s flames after a mercurial knock of 63, but the Combine was well on its way by then with Rehan Bari putting together a distinguished innings of his own.

There were three of those dismissals in store for the Blues bowler, who rose above despite Bari continuing to push on the scoreboard.

All six Blues who rolled the arm over walked away with reward, but it was a run out which finally proved the home side’s undoing, nonetheless posting a respectable 203.

Imports James Du Toit and Raguvaran Aravinthan were entrusted to first rebuttal and the South African took it all on himself early before falling for 10.

The Englishman paired with Dylan Grandell, himself just returning from the UK, and steadily built with boundaries continuing to follow.

Aravinthan ultimately fell short of hitting that next gear as Bari claimed his scalp on 31, but Grandell muscled through and earned himself a half-century on the journey.

When Greenwood finally made the pivotal breakthrough to move Grandell out of the way, one of four poles he would ultimately scoop, there was at least life in the field.

His next over made victims of skipper Tim Arnel and Kody Jackson, the latter out for a four-ball duck — and his fate was matched moments later by Riley Dawson.

Numurkah was suddenly in a massive hole at 7-127, miles adrift of the target with precious few resources in hand.

Youngster Nathan Gossayn had opened the batting a week prior against Mooroopna, dismissed without a run to his name; coming in at eight on Saturday, he was on a mission to make amends.

He accomplished all that and more.

It was at first a game of patience as Tim Braybon attempted to supercharge the chase with a couple of boundaries at the other end, but it was Gossayn and Matt Cline who activated the clutch genes with 45 runs to go once Braybon departed.

Neither found the rope at any stage with the Combine’s field placed back; this was a display simply of savvy running and consistent pressure with few risks.

Needing six to win entering the final over with two wickets still in hand, there was no doubt a shuddering flashback to 12 months ago for everyone at Princess Park who witnessed that affair.

Just one dot ball followed as Cline and Gossayn carefully inched towards the magic number, with Numurkah trailing by one when the final delivery came.

There was nothing but ice in Cline’s veins, though, completing the resurgence with two at the death to deliver the Blues a famous two-wicket win.

Arnel beamed with pride at just about everyone in blue individually, but felt there was perhaps more left out there in the first innings.

“It was a bit disappointing with our bowling and fielding performance where I felt we let that slip, but Riley Dawson grabbed those three crucial wickets on a very flat pitch,” Arnel said.

“I couldn’t be prouder of Gossayn at that age; the pressure didn’t worry him, and guys like Matty Cline finishing games shows that we can always count on them.

“It was big for us not to let our close games slip and I couldn’t be happier with the boys. Sam Nash has a well-drilled side and their pitch is quite good, so our teams match up well against each other.

“It’s becoming one of those rivalries where we know it’s going to be a tough game.”

Though Euroa could be looked at as an ideal opponent on paper this week after the Magpies fell to 0-2 in emphatic fashion, Arnel has no interest in the form guide.

“We don’t look at what others are doing. We just focus on what we need to do and if we hit our KPIs, we’ll be all right,” Arnel said.

“If you’re off even five to 10 per cent in one-day cricket the game changes as Central Park probably learned today.

“We know it’ll be a battle, but today, it was ultimately a great team performance.”